Orange Sky Australia is the world’s first free mobile laundry service for people experiencing homelessness – an idea founded in a Brisbane garage by two 20-year-old mates, Nic Marchesi and Lucas Patchett.
In late 2014, they installed a couple of washing machines and dryers in the back of their old van and visited parks around Brisbane to wash and dry clothes for free. What started as an idea to improve hygiene standards and restore dignity to people doing it tough has evolved into something much bigger and more powerful.
From sitting down on our orange chairs and chatting with friends, they learnt that although access to laundry and shower services is important, it’s the conversation and regular connection that create the biggest impact in the community. Each week, all over Australia, thousands of volunteers help to positively connect our friends doing it tough by providing access to free laundry, warm showers and genuine, non-judgemental conversation.
To date, Orange Sky has provided Australians doing it tough with over 1.9 million kilograms of free laundry, 20,000 showers and 330,000 hours of genuine and non-judgemental conversation across 36 service locations.
Partnering with Orange Sky is the latest development in our commitment to give back to the communities we operate within to improve outcomes for all. You can learn more about some of our other activities on the community page of our website, including sponsoring the 2022 Kidney Kar Rally and donating to those devasted by the 2022 NSW/QLD Floods.
Earlier this year, we also launched a new Employee-Giving Program that provides our people with the opportunity to give back to charities and causes that are important to them through fundraising matching and a paid volunteer day.
Commenting on our new partnership with Orange Sky, our CEO Daniel Gronert said: “We are thrilled to be partnering with Orange Sky. We have long admired them for their efforts to positively connect vulnerable Australians with basic services and conversation. Being a more socially responsible business that actively contributes to positive outcomes for the communities we operate within is important to all of us here at Arteva. Partnering with organisations like Orange Sky help us to achieve that.”
